Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Psalm 100:3

One of the many challenges that church leaders face is the challenge to remember that our brothers and sisters in the faith belong to God. They are His people and as our focus passage states, “sheep of His pasture.”

This highlights some very important implications. For instance, men and women who make your church their spiritual home, do so as a result of their relationship with God. He has entrusted them to your care for a season. They need sound spiritual guidance from you.

Second, it is God who will sustain His people. How does God do that? God does that by feeding them in His pasture. That may be your church for a season but it can just as easily be another church in another season. But even while being a part of your church, God’s people should be partaking of solid spiritual food as a result of their personal communion with Him. Yours should not be the only voice they hear.

Why do I bring this up? For this simple truth – far too many church leaders today, behave as if God has assigned people to their churches for as long as they live. Now before you church leaders start getting yourself all worked up, hear me out. What I am suggesting to you is that you are merely a bus driver in the Kingdom of God and not a warden. In other words the church door swings both ways. And it is my belief we should encourage that.

People will get on and off the bus at every stop you make on this faith journey called life. We should not be surprised by this. The days of 3rd and 4th generation families calling the same church their home, are rare according to recent statistics.

Given that fact, shouldn’t church leaders be preparing people to be Kingdom builders in their own right? What would happen if more church leaders actually discipled God’s people under their care, to go out and start new churches? That would create a Gospel title wave that would sweep across our nation, something we desperately need in America today.

Church leaders – take seriously your role as a Kingdom bus driver and watch the amazing things that will happen as a result. That will be a transforming moment in your life.